1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a refueling pipe structure for smoothly guiding fuel, supplied from a refueling nozzle, into a fuel tank. The refueling pipe structure includes a tank body, and a refueling pipe which is connected to the tank body to extend upwardly therefrom. The refueling pipe structure is provided at an upper end of the refueling pipe with a refueling port into which a refueling nozzle can be inserted.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are conventionally known refueling pipe structures. One structure has a plurality of flow control members mounted on an inner surface of the refueling pipe to extend substantially along an axis of the refueling pipe (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 156964/85). Another structure has a refueling guide, which is formed spirally, mounted on the inner surface of the refueling pipe (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 10921/82). The flow control members and the refueling guide are mounted in order to prevent fuel, supplied from the refueling nozzle, from colliding against an inner surface of the refueling pipe and from scattering. The scattered fuel strikes an automatic oil-supply stoppage detection portion of the refueling nozzle and as a result, the refueling by the refueling nozzle is automatically stopped.
In the known refueling pipe structures, however, fuel supplied from the refueling nozzle cannot avoid colliding against the flow control members and the refueling guide. The amount of fuel evaporated within the refueling pipe is relatively increased due to such collision. If evaporated fuel is generated, leakage of the evaporated fuel from the fuel tank increases during refueling. Thus, in a system designed to adsorb evaporated fuel generated during refueling by a canister, it is necessary to increase the capacity of the canister.